Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Hong Kong
The began with the Overseas Journalists’ Breakfast, hosted by the Trade Development Council to thank the foreign press and a handful of select vendors for attending the show. I was seated with Wojciech Pawlowski (the first Polish exhibitor to appear in Hong Kong, owner of Badge4U) and the Honorable Jeffrey Kin-fung Lam, Legislative Council. The latter is a delightful gentleman, and the honored guest at nearly every function we’ve attended.
Got to mix and mingle with some pretty interesting folks, including the guys who came up with USB People—think: Lego figure meets USB flash drive. There are more cool toys at this show than in Santa’s workshop all year long.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Hong Kong
Lesson 1
Hotel blow dryers have two settings in Asia:
- Gentle breeze/warm
- Gentle breeze/searing hot
Lesson 2
It’s best to learn to live with wavy hair not blown straight each day.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
11:55 p.m.
Hong Kong
Never get in an argument with a Chinese taxi driver unless (a) you’re really confident of your position, (b) you’re really confident you can get to the hotel entry hall without him catching you, and (c) you have a really good relationship with the hotel doorman.
Suffice it to say, I won. And I got a receipt. And I realized mid-way through the whole thing that this was probably not the battle to pick in a foreign country, even if the little bugger did drive me from here and back. Lesson learned.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Hong Kong
Cheung Man-Fung (Fung for short), the Assistant Manager of Marketing for the TDC and my contact the past couple of weeks regarding the presentation, told me late yesterday afternoon that there were able to drop the PDFs I supplied of my Keynote segment directly into the PowerPoint slides—no need to bring my laptop as originally planned.
That was all well and good until, at 5:15 a.m., my brain yanked me out of a deep slumber with the screaming realization that no laptop meant no notes. None. Nada. They were embedded in my presenter’s copy on my Mac.
There’s nothing quite like the sunrise in Hong Kong when your head is buried in a keyboard, frantically recreating your talking points.
I haven’t forgotten you guys back home; my blogging has taken a back seat to long days and late nights since the gift show opened and my “official duties” began. I promise to get a bunch of updates on here as soon as possible so you don’t have to wonder what’s up.
Rest assured, this trip is a-ma-zing. Am beginning to bruise from all the pinch myself sessions. Wowser.
Apparently “stationery” is open to interpretation. The selection of plastic balls shown here paled in comparison to the full selection inside…
…in spite of the “Printing matters” notation on the banner.
Today started off on an odd foot. Woke up just before the alarm rang at 8:15, piddled around with the Hong Kong cell phone, took a shower, then tried to burn the hotel down.
Well, maybe that’s a bit dramatic.
The blow dryer—in spite of being plugged into a converter and adapter—decided to go into hyper-drive mode, crescendo at a high pitched whine, then begin glowing an angry red. Never mind the smell of smoke.
Yes, I’ll be borrowing one from the hotel now, thankyouverymuch.
Lunch was fish and chips at The Pickled Pelican, on the boardwalk next to the Stanley Market entrance. Picture this: Mexican beer, British food, and Van Halen pumping out of the sound system. My first conscious thought (coming from someone both sleep deprived and hungry) was “Why aren’t I eating someplace more typical of Hong Kong?” Then it hit me—this is typical Hong Kong, having been under British rule until the late ‘90s.
Fish and chips + street vendors selling beaded kimonos = complete sense. Welcome to the Island.
Is it just me, or does everyone else think it’s weird the very first thing you see when exiting Immigration at the Hong Kong airport is Starbucks?
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
